1. Field of Invention
The present invention is designed for use with quartz-halogen cycle incandescent lamps as installed in lamp fixtures subject to vibration and high heat, such as on airplanes and the like.
2. Description of Prior Art
The quartz-halogen lamp comprises an elongated glass bulb or envelope and rectangular terminals mounted on the opposite ends of the bulb, and which in perfectly formed lamps, have their central longitudinal axes coincident with the central longitudinal axis of the bulb. Moreover, in perfectly formed bulbs, the rectangular sides of the terminals will be parallel to the common central axis, with the sides of one terminal parallel to the sides of the other. Due to manufacturing variations, however, perfectly formed lamps are uncommon, and the lamp holder is required to contend with lamp terminals which are skewed and nonparallel, either to each other or to the central axis of the lamp. Consequently, when such imperfect lamps are clamped in prior lamp holders, frequent and premature breakage of the fragile quartz envelope results.
Another problem encountered in the use of quartz-halogen lamps is the generation of intense localized heat, which, in combination with other strains placed on the lamp as above discussed and the severe vibration to which these lamps are subjected, leads to premature failure of the lamps.